Plentiful, value priced and accepted by most consumers for its mild taste and flaky texture, pollock garners few complaints from those who sell, cook and eat it.
Harvested primarily in Alaska and Russia, pollock production has increased in the past two years, according to a McDowell Group data briefing shared by the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute.
In 2010, Russia harvested 1.58 million metric tons, while Alaska fishermen brought in 888,000 metric tons. For this year, the total allowable catch (TAC) for Russia was set at 1.649 million metric tons and 1.367 million metric tons for Alaska. The report notes that if the 2011 TAC is reached and Japan and Korea continue to harvest pollock, there should be more product on the market this year than any year since 2000.
Because pollock has been plentiful, it is also priced attractively for the consumer market. When measured against other proteins such as beef, pork and chicken, only chicken has a lower per-pound average price. In August, skinless, boneless pollock fillets were selling for USD 3.30 per pound vs. USD 4.49 for a pound of beef, USD 3.58 for a pound of pork chops and USD 2.30 for boneless chicken breasts.
“We see pollock as the best value in the seafood industry” as well as “flexible” when it comes to creating new products, says Jim LaBelle, VP-marketing for Fishery Products International in Danvers, Mass.
Because it is a cheaper species than cod or salmon, LaBelle says FPI decided to add pollock to its line of FireRoasters flame-seared fillets for foodservice. “We introduced this initially with cod, salmon and tilapia,” he says, “but there were some segments of foodservice that wanted something more affordable.”
Click here to read the full story, which appeared in the November issue of SeaFood Business magazine >
